Love and Trust
by Fields-of-Heather
Summary: Inspired by Meiza's Elita One, 28 Times. Sneakthief has a secret, one that's been tearing her up inside. Will she finally reveal why she hates Swindle so much?
1. Love and Hate

Disclaimer: I do not own Elita One nor any other Transformers character. Nebula belongs to Meiza and I use her with Meiza's permission! Sneakthief belongs to me. I make no money from writing this!

*Note* This story came to be because of Meiza's great story, Elita One, 28 Times. I got to thinking (a dangerous habit I've tried to kick) and decided to pick up my pen, figuratively, and get back into writing something more then a one shot. So here it is. A glance into the life of my OC, Sneakthief. Enjoy!

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Title: Love and Trust

Chapter 1 - Love and Hate

"What in that half fried processor of yours possessed you to take on Bruticus.... ALONE!!!

Hands planted on her desk, Elita One leaned forward, glaring at the femme seated across from her. She could remember only a handful of times she had been this angry. Several of them involved her beloved Optimus being a stubborn aft and once revolved around their resident cranky CMO. But this was the first time she'd felt this way towards one of her femmes.

The blue and black femme seated silently before her. The Femme Corps' newly appointed Supply Officer, Sneakthief.

They had just returned from defending one of the last Energon processing plants. The battle could have gone either way, both sides on the verge of victory or defeat, when the young femme before her had done the most idiotic, foolsparked and possibly the bravest thing she'd ever seen.

Sneakthief had somehow gotten behind the Decepticon forces. Popping up seemingly out of nowhere, she had climbed up the massive combiner's leg and proceeded to shoot Bruticus in the joint where his hip meet his right leg. The giant mech's painful bellow shocked both sides. Almost all fighting paused as Bruticus reached down to swat the small femme from his side. But he never got the chance. The repeated shots to the joint caused a little used sub routine to kick in, Emergency Separation.

The look of surprise on the Con's face was almost comical as his massive form began to fall apart.

Elita had no doubt that this moment turned the tide in favor of the Autobots but it was what her officer did "after" the combiner turned back into it's gestalt team that truly had the Femme Commander fuming. Before the team members could recover from their forced separation, said officer had launched herself at one of the Cons.

And not just any Decepticon, but the very one she had a deep and long running grudge against. The right leg of Bruticus and self proclaimed "One Mech Black Market", Swindle.

The Con's resident wheeler and dealer never knew what hit him. Still dazed, he could barely raise his arms to defend himself from the enraged femme sitting on his chest, trying with all her might to pound his face into scrap. The violence of the attack stunned not only the Autobots, but the nearby Decepticons as well. The usually mild mannered Supply Officer had turned into a raving psychotic, displaying a viciousness normally reserved for Sunstreaker.

Even after Swindle lost consciousness, Sneakthief didn't stop. The snarling femme started clawing at his chest armor, trying to force it open. With dawning horror, Elita knew what she was doing. She was going after Swindle's spark.

"Stop Her!"

Elita's shout jolted both the Decepticons and Autobots into action. It took both Ironhide and Inferno to pry Sneakthief from her victim. Blast Off and Vortex grabbed Swindle by the arms and dragged him away from the screaming femme. The Cons fell back, retreat ordered, as Ratchet rushed forward with a sedative in hand.

If she hadn't seen it with her own two optics, Elita would not have believed it. Two of the strongest mechs the Autobots had were struggling to hang onto a femme a fourth their mass. Inferno had his arms around her torso, keeping her arms pinned to her sides. His secure grip did nothing to stop the snarling femme. Sneakthief thrashed back and forth, spewing curses and threats. Ironhide had the misfortune to have the more dangerous end to contain if the numerous dents in his chest and abdominal armor was any indication. He growled and swore as he tried to hang onto her flailing legs. Freeing one leg, she planted her heeled ped in Ironhide's forehead. Before the pissed off Weapons Specialist could draw his gun, Ratchet plunged the sedative into her neck.

A small force was left behind to secure the plant. The remainder had returned to base to repair, refuel and rest. Elita doubted she'd be resting anytime soon. Sneakthief had been taken to medbay, for repairs and to make sure she didn't flip out once she woke up. Elita had left orders with Ratchet, "as soon as she's online, send her to me."

So here she was, less then four breems after the battle, sitting quietly infront of her furious commander.

"I asked you a question solider."

Sneakthief twitched slightly at Elita's harsh tone. Her response was soft spoken, very unlike the outgoing femme, "Well... it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"A good idea?" It took all of Elita's will not to reach across the desk and throttle her officer, "Was it a good idea to take on a combiner by yourself? Was it a good idea to go psycho-bot on one of it's members who just happens to be your ex-lover?" Elita ignored Sneakthief's sudden tensing at the mention of her ex, "Maybe it was a good idea to attack a fellow officer? Do you know how close Ironhide came to shooting your aft?"

Sneakthief said nothing, head down, unable to look her commander in the optics. Letting a frustrated sigh out threw her vents, Elita lowered herself into her chair. She let the silence linger for a click or two before speaking more calmly, "While I don't condone such recklessness, I appreciate the ...effectiveness... of your attack on Bruticus. I also will not fault you for your attack on Swindle. I can only imagine how difficult it is to face someone you once cared about across a battlefield. But..." she paused to lean back in her seat, optics pinning the femme to her chair, "I can't overlook the damage you inflicted to both Ironhide and Inferno. For refusing to stand down and attacking your fellow Autobots, I am temporarily reliving you of your duties and confining you to quarters."

Sneakthief's head snapped up, mouth open to protest, before she stopped herself. Looking back at her lap, she nodded and replied meekly, "Yes ma'am, I understand."

"Dismissed."

Standing, Sneakthief moved to the door, leaving without a sound. Once the door slid shut, Elita let her shoulders drop. Leaning forward, she rested her head in her hands. She'd never had to discipline one of her troops like this before. Oh she'd handed out punishments to her femmes, usually for drinking a little to much high-grade or getting caught in a compromising position with one of the resident mechs but never something so serious. What distressed her more then anything was Sneakthief's responses. She'd known the young femme for many vorns, even before the forming of the Femme Corp. First as a refugee with her mother, Nebula, seeking shelter from the war. Then as a volunteer, using her connections from vorns living on the streets to get desperately needed supplies for other displaced femmes and their offspring. And finally, as one of the first to sign up when Elita's mate, Optimus Prime, had approached her to create the Femme Corp.

Sneakthief was outgoing and friendly, almost always with a smile on her face. She made friends easily and earned the respect of many, femmes and mechs alike. She was intensely loyal, quick to defend her friends and not afraid to stand up to mechs twice her size. Temperament wise, Elita wished she had a dozen more femmes like her.

Work ethics wise, no one plucked Elita's nerves like Sneakthief. Her disdain for following rules and protocol annoyed not only the Femme Commander but other officers as well. More then once, Elita had called her on it, but it never changed. If there was a procedure to follow, Sneakthief found a way around it. If there were reports to turn in, Sneakthief "misplaced" them. If there were forms to fill out, Sneakthief forgot to do them.

So, knowing her like she did, this meek, quiet attitude was something that worried Elita. This was not the Sneakthief they all knew and loved.

Staring at the empty chair before her, Elita couldn't help but wonder what the Decepticon's Supply Officer had done to make the Autobot's Supply Officer hate him so much.

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coming soon... Chapter 2 - Love and Money

Reviews are very welcome! Flames will be used to light the BBQ and grill up some hotdogs for the other reviewers.


	2. Love and Money

Disclaimer: I do not own Elita One nor any other Transformers character. Nebula belongs to Meiza and I use her with Meiza's permission! Sneakthief belongs to me. I make no money from writing this!

Thanks to Meiza, Misao-CG and Hiezen for their reviews! *hands out hotdogs*

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Title: Love and Trust

Chapter 2 - Love and Money

Thirty Seven...

That's how many imperfections were on the surface of ceiling tile number 8.

Releasing a sigh, Sneakthief shuttered her optics, "It's official, boredom is driving me insane." For the last three orns, she'd found herself confined to quarters, slowly going out of her processor. On the first orn, she'd made good use of her free time to catch up on her recharge. Orn two had found her reading every book she had on file. Orn three had her counting marks on the ceiling tiles. Eight down, Twelve more to go. So far tile 3 had the most at 65 and tile 6 had the least, 21.

Even the regular visits from her roommate hadn't put a dent in the creeping, all consuming boredom. Moonracer stopped by after each of her shifts to "cheer" her up. She'd made it her mission to keep Sneakthief up to date on what was happening outside even if all that entailed was speculation on what prank Sideswipe was planing or how the betting pools were going. Currently, rumor had it Sides was targeting Red Alert and word from Jazz was that the bets on which body part Wheeljack would blow off next was leaning heavily towards his left arm.

Rolling over, she pressed her face into the padding of her berth. Sneakthief hadn't been able to convince herself to get up yet. Hence staring at the ceiling and counting dents and dings. Optics still shuttered, she wondered how much longer her boss was going to keep her penned up. Normally, she wasn't one to get shelter-fever, but she was itching to get out and do something... anything. She'd even do some of those reports Prowl had been bugging her about. She was ready to do just about anything to distract her from thoughts of 'him'.

With a frustrated scream, she pressed her face harder into the padding as images of Swindle appeared unbidden to her mind. "No, no, no! I'm not gonna start this again. I'm not going to think about that miserable slag-head, that.... rust riddled, sack of scrap... that over sized trash compactor!"

But she couldn't stop the tide of once happy, now resented and painful, memories that her processor kept dredging up. His deep laugh, his Unmaker-may-care smile, his confident stance, his strong arms wrapped around her.

Another scream muffled by her berth, "Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Sneakthief beat the padding with her fists as cleaning fluid started leaking from her closed optics. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the memories.

He'd taken her from off the streets, spotted her talent for thievery and taught her how to thrive instead of just survive. He'd shown her what to scrounge and steal to make the most profit. Who to get things from, who to sell them too, who you could take to the cleaners and who you never, ever overcharged. He even gave her a new name. She'd seen several times before the fateful orn when he'd "caught" her stealing from him only to have her pull a blaster on him, his own blaster to be exact. The very one she had lifted from him clicks before. She could still hear him laughing, "You're quite the little sneak thief aren't you?" It became her name and they became a team. She would steal it, he would sell it. Sometimes back to the very bot she'd stolen it from. He'd made her into the perfect partner, in more ways then one. Swindle had been her first and only lover. She'd spent ten vorns with him, five of those also in his berth.

Rolling over, she stared blankly at the ceiling over her berth, no longer seeing the imperfections she'd not so long ago been counting. Cleaning fluid still leaked from her optics as she replayed the last of her so called 'happy' memories, their last orn together. The last night beside him, before everything went wrong.

It had been a normal orn. They had gone over her "acquisitions" from the day before, set up some deliveries, taken a couple of special orders and retired to their place to spend the evening together. It had been just another ordinary orn, that kind of wonderful ordinary that she had found with Swindle. She'd had no signs, no inkling that in a few short breems her "wonderful ordinary life" was about to disappear forever.

From somewhere in the back of her processor, a small voice whispered,

"Talk to someone."

She recognized it as the part of her mind that housed her medic training. She'd never finished training, it was hard to when your medical facility was turned into so much rubble, but she had been there long enough to receive basic physiological programming. "If you don't, it's just gonna get worse. You need to confide in someone!"

But who? She hadn't even told her own mother. Nebula knew about Swindle. Sneakthief hadn't been able to keep that info from her, but she had refused to tell her mother anything about their relationship except that it ended badly.

If she couldn't tell her mother, how could she tell any of the Autobots just how close she had come to becoming a Decepticon? How could she tell them about the dishonest and dishonorable things she had done.? How could she tell them just how naive and gullible she had been to love and trust a mech to whom money was his only true love?

How could she tell them and still look them in the optics?

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coming soon... Chapter 3 - Love and Concern

As before... reviews are welcome and flames will be used to keep the BBQ going. *pulls out some hamburger patties*


	3. Love and Concern

Disclaimer: I do not own Elita One nor any other Transformers character. Nebula belongs to Meiza and I use her with Meiza's permission! Sneakthief belongs to me. I make no money from writing this!

Sparklight belongs to Misao-CG. I borrowed Sparky with her permission. Thanks!!!

Thanks go out to my reviews of chapter 2... Meiza and Misao. *hands out hamburgers as she points off to the side* Help yourself to some potato salad!

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Title: Love and Trust

Chapter 3 - Love and Concern

Six orns after the battle for the Energon plant, two orns after she'd been put back on duty, word started coming in to Elita that there was something very wrong with Sneakthief.

First it was Moonracer. She'd shown up early one morning, concerned about her roommate's depression. Then came Arcee and Firestar, also voicing their worries about there fellow femme. Next came Jazz, who brought word that Sneakthief didn't want in on several new betting pools. He was followed by Prowl, with the news that she had actually turned in not one but five of her back logged reports. But the one bit of information that had her most concerned came from Sparklight.

Elita was in the middle of approving the new duty roster when her door chime sounded. "Come in." she called out, not bothering to look up from her datapad. The light footfalls mixed with the shuffling nature of the walk let Elita know just who was visiting her. Looking up, she confirmed the presence of her Security Director.

Sparklight stood just inside the door, shifting nervously from ped to ped, her door wings quivering. Elita sighed silently to herself, wondering if the femme would ever get over her "Superior officer jitters". The poor thing so often looked like a petro-rabbit facing down a turbo-fox.

"S..sorry to disturb you ma'am b..but.."

Taking pity on the young femme, Elita waved her into the room, "Sit Sparklight, please. What's the problem?"

Moving quickly to sit herself across from Elita's desk, Sparklight folded her hands in her lap. Sitting straight, door wings stiff, she calmed herself before speaking, "Well, ma'am, it's Sneakthief."

Elita sighed, she could feel a processor ache coming on already. "What about her?"

"Well..." Sparklight paused, her face a mask of... worry? Usually when Sparklight came to talk about the Supply Officer she was angry and/or frustrated. Sneakthief seemed to delight in getting Sparklight rilled up, usually by taking things from stock without telling anyone or filling out the necessary forms. She'd also been known to randomly bring in things and not log them in and also rearrange the stock while Sparklight was off duty. All of which lead Sparklight to come running to Elita, complaining about Sneakthief's blatant disregard for the rules. But this... this was new! The Femme Commander had never seen her look so concerned before. "You see, I went to check on our supply of blank datapads a little while ago when I found Sneakthief in the main supply room and she was.... doing inventory!"

Silence hung in the air for a click before....

"Dear sweet Primus."

Elita felt as if the whole universe had been turned on it's side. If any other bot had been found doing inventory she would have chalked it up to sheer boredom or a punishment detail. But for Sneakthief to be doing inventory willingly.... that was like saying Sunstreaker was giving up his high gloss wax or Megatron was painting himself pink and singing love songs. It just did NOT happen.

Sparklight nodded, "I know! For a moment I thought my optics were malfunctioning, but it really was her. I came here as fast as I could." She leaned forward, a note of desperation in her voice, "Ma'am, you have to do something. This.... this isn't normal!"

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The daily officers meeting was finally letting out. Normally held first thing in the morning, it had been pushed back due to Ratchet being held up in the medbay. Wheeljack had blown himself up yet again, along with Bluestreak and Hound, both of which had the misfortune of walking past the lab when the doors where blown off. Both of them would be fine by the end of the orn, but Wheeljack wouldn't be doing anymore inventing for awhile. At least not until they found out where his right foot had gone.

Elita was staring blankly at the datapad before her, her mind a million stellar miles away. She'd barely heard the others reports, her mind stuck trying to figure out what to do about her Supply Officer when she was startled by a large hand covering hers. Looking up, she realized that everyone had left except for her and the owner of said hand. Turning her head, she meet the concerned gaze of her sparkmate.

"Elita, what's wrong? It's not like you to drift off like that." Optimus leaned closer, concerned for his obviously distracted mate.

Releasing a sigh, Elita shuttered her optics, "It's Sneakthief. She's been acting strange ever since the last battle."

Optimus nodded to himself. He remembered said battle. Though he'd been at the other end of the battlefield, he'd heard and seen Bruticus fall. He'd also learned later about the femme officer's behavior in the field. He couldn't say he knew her very well, but he did know that her actions of late were unusual. Both Jazz and Prowl had mentioned it to him and Red Alert was convinced she was actually a Decepticon modified to look like Sneakthief and switched with her during the last battle.

Opening her optics, Elita looked at her mate, "I'm not sure what to do. Sneakthief is obviously distressed about something, but she's not talking. Not even Moonracer can get her to snap out of it and they share the same living space. I just don't know what I should do."

Optimus leaned back, pondering Elita's words while gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. He'd found out early on that doing so calmed his often tense mate. "Over the vorns, you're dealt with traumatized and depressed refugees before, yes?" At Elita's nod he continued, "What did you do for them?"

Elita answered almost without thinking, "We left them alone for the most part. Just made sure they were comfortable and fed and waited until they showed a sign they were ready to open up. Forcing them to talk often made them withdraw farther and lengthened their recovery."

Optimus said nothing, just raised an optic ridge at her.

It took a moment for Elita to realize what she had said. She planted the palm of her free hand on her forehead, "Of course. She's no different then them. Why didn't I see that?" All this time she'd been worrying about what to do when all she had to do was nothing. Pressuring Sneakthief to talk would only make the femme throw up walls between her and the others. Standing, Elita leaned over and planted a kiss on her beloveds mask covered cheek, "What would I do without you?"

Optimus smiled behind his mask, his amusement shining in his eyes, "You don't want to know." Standing he took his mate's hand as they headed for the door, "I'll walk with you to your office. I'm heading that way."

Walking in silence down the base's long hallways, Optimus looked down at Elita, reading her concerned face, "Don't worry. She'll talk when she's ready. All you have to do is wait."

"I know, I just can't help but wonder how long that will be." Elita said softly, giving Optimus' hand a squeeze. Stopping at her office door, she hit the coded lock. When the door slid open, Elita realized she wasn't going to have to wait long after all.

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coming soon... Chapter 4 - Love and Confessions

Reviews are lovely and very welcome. Flames on the other hand are feed to the BBQ. *adds more charcoal and pulls out some chicken*


	4. Love and Confessions

Disclaimer: I do not own Elita One nor any other Transformers character. Nebula belongs to Meiza and I use her with Meiza's permission! Sparklight belongs to Misao-CG. Sneakthief and Whipsting(only mentioned) belongs to me. I make no money from writing this!

Thanks again go out to Meiza and Misao for reviewing. *huggles*

*Note* This by far was the hardest chapter to write. I hope you all enjoy.

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Title: Love and Trust

Chapter 4 - Love and Confessions

several breems earlier...

"What the slag are you doing?"

Startled, Sneakthief jerked back, loosing her balance where she'd been crouching over a bin and landed on her aft. Turning towards the stock room door, she found Sideswipe staring at her like she'd grown wings and turned into a Seeker. Sitting there, it took a click to register what the red twin had said, "What do you mean?"

Marching across the room, Sideswipe towered over her, "Sneaks... you're sorting wires!!

Looking down at the her still clenched hands, she finally noticed what she was holding. With a shriek, Sneakthief tossed the spare bits of wire into the air like they were electrified and scuttled backwards away from them. Stopping only when her back met a shelving unit, Sneakthief shuddered, "Primus... I was sorting.... sorting!!!"

Moving cautiously, Sideswipe approached her, "Sneaks, are you alright? I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe you need to see Ratchet?"

Her hands were shaking she noticed as she sat there. With a jolt, she realized what she'd been doing all orn. Cleaning, straightening, sorting... undoing all the carefully crafted chaos she'd put together to confuse and infuriate Sparklight. Maybe, she admitted to herself, her subconscious was right. She needed to talk to someone. With that realization an invisible weight lifted from her shoulders. She knew who she had to speak to.

A black hand waving in her face startled her back to the here and now. Looking up, she realized Sideswipe was offering her a hand up. Giving him a smile, she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Thanks, Sides."

"Sneaks?"

"I'm OK... or rather, I will be..." Stepping around the front-liner, Sneakthief called over her shoulder, "... just as soon as I have a talk with the Boss Lady." A sudden thought had her pausing just before the door. Spinning around she asked, "Sides... what are you doing in the supply room anyway?"

"Um, well," Sideswipe looked very uncomfortable, "You see..."

Sneaks cut him off with a wave of her hand, "Wait, don't tell me. Just take what you need and go. Have fun!"

With a smile, Sideswipe nodded to her before pulling out his "shopping list" and disappearing down one of the isles. Shaking her head, Sneaks laughed as she ducked out the door, calling back, "And don't let Sparky catch you!"

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"What was I thinking?"

Sitting in Elita's office, waiting for her commander to come back, Sneakthief had had plenty of time to think and now she was having second thoughts.

"Temporary insanity. That's what is was. I was out of my mind. I can't tell Elita." Standing up and pacing the length of the room, she continued muttering to herself, "Oh, hey Elita, I just stopped by to say hi and tell you that not only did I date a Black Market profiteer who became a Decepticon, I also spent several vorns stealing stuff for him and oh yeah... if he hadn't broken my spark I would have gladly followed him right up to Megatron's door. Yeah, that will go over well!"

Making another circuit around the room, Sneakthief sighed, "I can't tell her that. Not after all the trust she's put in me. But if I don't and she finds out... she'll never trust me again." Pausing, she hung her head, optics shut, "I can't... not right now. I need to think about this more. Yeah... a couple more orns won't hurt." Her mind made up, Sneakthief turned to the door...

... in time to see it open. Elita One stood there, framed by the door jam and behind her was... oh Primus no... Optimus Prime.

The Femme Commander and the Supreme Commander of all Autobot forces.

She sent up a silent prayer, "Dear, sweet, merciful Primus, strike me down now!"

He didn't answer.

Later, she would swear that her temporary insanity returned with a vengeance when she blurted out... "Elita... ma'am, I... I wanted to ... talk to you. If you please?"

Elita seemed stunned for a moment before she snapped out of it, stepping into her office. "Alright." Behind her, Optimus made to head off down the hall when Sneakthief called out...

"Sir, I think you should hear this as well."

Temporary Insanity. That's her story and she's sticking to it.

Stopping, Optimus shared a look with his bondmate before stepping threw the doorway, "Alright, I have some time before my meeting with Perceptor."

Once the door slid shut behind him, Sneakthief moved quickly to the seat across from Elita's desk. Her knees were threatening to send her to the floor. Elita sat behind her desk, Optimus moved to the wall closest to the door. In the back of her mind, she noted that their weren't any chairs in the room big enough for the Prime to sit in but the thought found itself shoved rudely aside.

Neither Elita or Optimus said any thing, instead opting to wait for Sneakthief. Collecting her thoughts, she folded her hands in her lap. A memory rose suddenly to the surface...

"You know, the first step is always the hardest."

Her mother's voice. She'd been terrified, standing outside the medical center, first day of class, unable to move. Nebula had laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Smiling up at her with such pride, she'd said, "But after that, every step gets a little easier."

Looking up into her commander's eyes, Sneakthief straightened her shoulders and took the first step.

"Ma'am... there are some things I need to tell you about. That I should have told you about long ago."

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Her mother had been right, every step after gets a little easier. For the next two breems, Sneakthief, to use a favorite medic's term, spilled her internals to her superiors. She'd found the telling got easier as she went along. Starting at her vorns on the street, scrounging and stealing, to her meeting Swindle and being tutored in the "fine art of profit". From there she went into their vorns together as partners and lovers, threw every shady, underhanded and down right illegal deal she'd been apart of.

Elita and Optimus remained silent for the most part, interrupting only to clarify a point or two and so that Prime could cancel his meeting with Perceptor. He'd also contacted Prowl to tell him point blank "Somethings come up, handle things for awhile."

Finally she came to the part she'd been dreading, the brake up. Her vocal processor froze up, small squeaks and clicks her only sound. Dropping her gaze to her hands, she vaguely acknowledged a warning notice that she was clenching her hands too tight and her finger joints were being stressed. Just then, a pair of white and rose hands covered her own, gently easing them into opening.

"Sneaks."

Startled to hear her nickname, Sneakthief looked up to find Elita kneeling in front of her. Still holding her hands, Elita's calm, steady gaze never left her face, "Sneaks... what happened?"

Cleaning fluid began building behind her optics as she found her voice, "A friend of mine, Whipsting... over heard a conversation between Swindle and a Decepticon. They were price haggling. He didn't think much about, Swindle had dealt with several Decepticons before, but this time..." She paused, tearing her optics away from Elita's and looking again at her lap, "Whipsting came running to me. I could hardly understand what he was saying, he was so upset. Finally I got that whole story out of him. Swindle was making a deal for..." She started shaking, her voice quivering.

"He was selling me!"

Elita was stunned, unable to move. Behind her, Optimus remained silent but his whole frame tensed. Sneakthief's shaking threatened to tear her apart, but she continued.

"I didn't believe him. I couldn't, so I ran to find Swindle. When I did he... he was discussing "delivery options" for how to get me to the buyer. Oh Primus." Sneakthief seemed to collapse in on herself, curling forward. Elita let go of her hands to grab the femme as she slid off the chair. Pulling her against her, Elita wrapped her arms around the sobbing femme.

Ignorant of anything else around her, Sneakthief latched onto her only source of comfort. She clung to her commander, face pressed into her shoulder and sobbed loudly, nearly screaming.

"I loved him... and he was selling me to some 'Con as a pleasure bot. I Loved Him!"

She couldn't speak anymore, just held on for dear life as vorns of repressed pain, of spark rending agony was finally purged from her systems. She held on even as Elita shifted enough to look over at her mate. They shared a silent, wordless message of mutual concern and relief. Concern for the shattered femme and relief that finally, she was letting someone in.

A large hand pressing gently against her upper back made Sneakthief look up. Her optics were blurry from crying, but she could still make out the unmistakable form of Optimus Prime. He had moved away from the wall and crouched down next to her and Elita. The hand on her back was moving in small circles. As her trembling started to ease, she noticed one of Elita's hands moving in circles against her lower back. The two were moving as one.

"Sneakthief..."Optimus's voice was soft and deep, "Did you confront him?"

With a shaky intake of air, she laid her head on Elita's shoulder, facing Optimus, "No... I ran. I ran as far as I could, rested and ran some more." Raising a hand to her face, she wiped at her fluid streaked cheek, "About a half a vorn later I found my mother and not long after that we found Elita's refugee operation. I never told her.. or anyone for that matter. Until now."

Elita spoke just as softly into her audio, "I'm glad you came to me... to us with this. It explains a lot. And I assure you, not a word of this will leave this room without your approval."

Smiling weakly, Sneakthief eased her death-grip on Elita's armored back, "Thanks."

Loosening her own hold, Elita leaned back slightly, "I have just one question."

"How did you get into my 'locked' office?"

Sneakthief stiffened before leaned away from her commander. A weak but familiar cheeky smile graced her face, "Easy. You need to pick better passwords, Boss Lady! I mean, come on, the date you bonded to Prime? Way too easy!"

Elita stared at her, surprised, as Optimus leaned back, his deep, rumbling laugh filling the room, "Fifty seven vorns!! Fifty seven and you're 'still' using the same password."

Sneakthief couldn't contain herself, not with the embarrassment pouring off of her boss. She threw her head back and joined Optimus in laughing. Elita couldn't fight it. A smile first appeared, then grew before she let loose her own laughter.

And for an all too brief time the war disappeared for three sparks, who all needed a good laugh and a happy moment to remember.

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coming soon... Chapter 5 - Love and Friendship

Reviews are always welcome and flames feed the BBQ! *munches on some watermelon*


	5. Love and Friendship

Disclaimer: I do not own Elita One nor any other Transformers character. Nebula belongs to Meiza and I use her with Meiza's permission! Sneakthief belongs to me. I make no money from writing this!

Sparklight belongs to Misao-CG. I borrowed Sparky with her permission. Thanks!!!

*note 1* Well, here it is. The last chapter and now we get to see Sneakthief's true personality. Enjoy!

*note 2* I've seen both Jazz and Smokescreen used as the "go to" bot for running the betting pools. I picked Jazz cause he's more fun.... and he payed me off in chocolate bunny ears. *munches* Yummy!! ^-^

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Title: Love and Trust

Chapter 5 - Love and Friendship

The rec room was always busy this time of orn. First shift had just let off and most bots were stopping in to refuel and relax. A steady hum of conversation filled the air as various mechs and femmes chatted and gossiped with their friends and colleges. Standing just inside the entrance, Sneakthief surveyed the room and for the first time in orns, made her usual rounds.

First stop was the table closest to the door. Here most of the command staff liked to sit. Being so close to the exit meant that should an emergency arise, they would be the first out the door. She found Jazz, as she had jokingly once told him, "holding court". The Special Ops master was regaling several mechs with his latest tale of daring-do. Arms waving, Jazz expertly waived his story of danger and adventure for his audience. Bluestreak, Blaster and Smokescreen burst out laughing as she neared. Prowl nodded at her, sipping his energon to hide his own amusement at Jazz's antics.

Before he could start in on his next tale, Sneakthief stepped up behind him. With an audacity that would have had most mechs sputtering with embarrassment, Sneaks leaned against Jazz' back, practically draped herself over his shoulder and let one arm hang down his chest. The other she laid on his other shoulder. Jazz being Jazz just rolled with it. Smiling, he chuckled, "Sneaks. I was wondering when you're show up!" Reaching into his subspace, Jazz produced a mini datapad, "Here are your winnings. Left foot just above the ankle."

Snagging the pad, Sneakthief tucked it away in her own subspace, not once moving from her spot. "Thank you! Have they found it yet?" she asked, silently noting that Prowl had gone stiff. He had his cube half way to his mouth and his eyes locked on the far wall. Smerking internally, Sneakthief opened a private comm line to Jazz, _"Think Prowl's jealous?"_

Having noticed Prowl himself, Jazz chuckled before answering, "Yeah, Ratchet says Wheeljack will be back to blowing himself up in no time." _"Now why would Prowl be jealous?"_ "You want in on the next one?"

Doing her best not to give herself away, Sneakthief smiled sweetly, "Of course. Put me down for the usual amount on..." She made a show of thinking about her bet, drumming her fingertips against Jazz' chest plates, "Let's go with right arm, below the elbow." _"Maybe because he has the hots for a certain 3IC?"_

Jazz made a quick note on his datapad, "Alright, no problem." _"Really! You don't say?"_ A light chuckle crossed the comm line, _"I think we're messed with him enough for now, don't you?"_

Making a show of slowly standing up, Sneakthief lightly dragged her hand up his chest, _"I guess so... same time next week?"_

_"You got it!"_

Not for the first time, Sneakthief speculated that if Prowl ever found out she and Jazz were making him jealous on purpose, not even Ratchet's incredible skills would be able to put them back together again. But, if "Project Prowler" worked, the 2IC just might finally make his move.

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Leaving an amused Jazz and silently fuming Prowl behind, Sneakthief headed for the other side of the room. There, at a table by themselves, she found her second target. He was completely oblivious to her presence, grumbling loudly about something. At least he was until she launched herself at his back, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Jumper!"

The other mini-bots tried to contain their laughter in the face of Cliffjumper's furious snarl, "Get off me you psychotic femme!"

"Awww, don't be like that my little cutie-ootie!" she cooed in the red mech's audio. Smiling sweetly, Sneakthief rubbed her cheek against his, ignoring the deep growl, "You know, if you weren't such a grumpy gasket, I wouldn't have to hug you every chance I get. Now come on, give me a little smile!"

Knowing it was the only way to get the crazy femme to leave, Cliffjumper forced a very strained smile. Satisfied with the effort, Sneaks squealed, "Awww, now that wasn't so bad was it?" Giving him another squeeze, Sneakthief stood up and with a wave to the other mini-bots, moved on.

She couldn't help but smile when she heard Bumblebee teasing Cliffjumper.

"Jumper, you're the only mech I know who gets mad when a pretty femme throws herself at you."

"Shut It! If you got molested at random breens of the orn by a psycho femme, you'd be pissed too... no matter how pretty she is!"

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Moving towards the back of the room, she spotted her final target for the orn. With a stealth that would impress the Master Spy himself, Sneakthief stepped up beside her mark, "Mirage."

"Sneakthief." the Towers mech nodded politely.

Reaching into her subspace, Sneaks pulled out a small, unmarked, brown box. "I got that little something-something you wanted for you-know-who."

A knowing smirk graced her face as she noticed Mirage's temperature rise slightly. The noble mech made a slight noise, as if resetting his vocalizer before taking the package and slipping it into his subspace. Watching him from the corner of her optics, her smirk grew when Mirage 's gaze darted across the room, to where Hound, newly released from the Hatchet's "tender, loving" care was heading their way with two cubes in hand. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." she said quietly before crossing in front of him, pausing to give him a knowing smile and wink, "Enjoy!"

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With her rounds complete, Sneakthief snagged a cube for herself before heading to a table near the middle. The off duty femmes had gathered there to unwind. Setting herself down between Sparklight and Moonracer, Sneaks sipped her energon. Noticing Moonracer staring intently at her cube, she asked, "Racer, what's wrong?"

Lifting her head slightly, Moonracer glanced across the room, "He's staring again."

"Who?"

Firestar answered, amusement evident in her voice, "Powerglide. He's been watching our 'lil Racer for the last couple orns."

While Moonracer glared at Firestar for calling her "lil", Sneaks eyed up the large mech across the way. He kept glancing over . Every time 'Racer looked his way, he'd look away. Smiling, Sneakthief threw an arm around her roommate, "I think it's cute, you having an admirer. So that's why you haven't been spending much time in our room."

Moonracer tried to sink down into her seat as the others started giggling and whistling. Firestar couldn't help but tease, "You better be careful. Don't want be getting caught out of bounds after hours!"

Arcee snorted into her cube, "Like you have room to talk Star! Just two orns ago Prowl caught you and Inferno in the south hallway." Firestar's face was priceless, a mixture of shock and embarrassment. Arcee wasn't done though, "From what I heard, there was a whopper of a fire burning... and Inferno *wasn't* trying to put it out!"

Firestar threw her empty cube at Arcee's head, leading everyone into another round of laughter. Wiping the cleaning fluid from her optics, Sneakthief called out, "You know Star, if you and Inferno need any... eh hem... toys, I can hook you up." Seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of stasis cuffs appeared, twirling around Sneak's finger.

While the others laughed even harder and Star hid her face in her hands, beside Sneakthief, Sparklight had gone deathly still, her optics glued to the object twirling in front of her nose. "Sneakthief... those wouldn't happen to be the stasis cuffs that went missing from inventory this morning... would they?"

Turning towards the femme Security Officer, Sneakthief put on her best innocent face, "Maybe."

Sparklight's glare was positively frigid, her doorwings vibrating, "While we're on the subject... you wouldn't happen to know how Sideswipe got a hold of several components from stock and rigged a bypass for the fire suppression master control... thereby reprogramming it to dowse Red Alert with foam everywhere he went yesterday, would you?"

Still twirling the cuffs, Sneakthief gave a rather convincing "shocked" look, "Really? He did that? Sparky, I don't know anything about him taking stuff from the stock room, honest!" Putting her free hand to her chin she "thought" for a moment before... "I mean, he was there in the stock room the other orn when I left to speak to Elita, but I didn't see him take anything before I left."

Sparklight's fury grew three fold, "WHAT? You left that ... that.. prankster alone in the stock room? Primus only knows what else he took that I haven't discovered yet. He's probably setting up his next prank as we speak!"

Sneakthief just gave her an impish smile, "Oops?"

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From across the room, Elita One watched her troops. Arcee continued to tease Firestar. Moonracer was smiling shyly at Powerglide, who was smiling back at her. Sneakthief was laughing as Sparklight tried to strangle her.

Shaking her head, a smile on her lips, Elita mused that it was good to have things back to normal... well, as normal as it gets around here that is.

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The End...for now!

Please review and let me know how I did! Pretty Please!!


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